Feed device for sheet-metal-printing machines.



No. 844,113. PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907.

A.J.FORD..

FEED DEVICE FOR SHEET METAL PRINTING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 28,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- No. 844,113. .PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907. A. J. FORD.

FEED DEVICE FOR SHEET METAL PRINTING MAGHINBS.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.28,1906.

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.ALBERT J. FORD, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR To THE-FUCHS & LANGMANUFACTURING 00., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FEED DEVICE FOR SHEET-METAL-PRINTING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed February 28. 1906. Serial No. 303,473.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. FORD, a citizen of the United States,residing 1n New York, in the borough of Manhattan, county and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FeedDevices for Sheet-\Ietal-Printing Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

In printing-machines for printing upon sheet metal and other relativelystiff materials it has been customary to employ a feed board or tablewhich is inclined downwardly with respect to the transfer and impressioncylinders and to employ guides at the forward ends of said feed board orplate where the same is adjacent the contact-line of said cylinders,said guides being moved at a predetermined time in order to release thesheet to be printed and permit the same to be taken hold of by grippersand fed through between the impression and transfer cylinders. It hasbeen found that by such a construction it is impossible to obtain aperfect register of the printing matter upon the sheet, whether saidmatter is printed in black or in a plurality of colors, by reason of thefact that the movement of the guides away from the sheet before thegrippers take hold of the sheet cannot be effected without a certainslipping or shifting of the latter.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a feed device forprinting-machines of the type indicated in which the shifting of thesheet is entirely prevented and in which the sheet is fed between thetransfer and im pression cylinders at exactly the proper time, whereby aperfect register is obtained.

A further object of this invention is to provide a feed device in whichthe sheet may be very accurately adjusted with respect to the grippersof the impression-cylinders, said adjustment being both longitudinal andtransverse to said grippers, whereby the accurate positioning of thesheet is insured.

I/Vith these and other ends in view the invention consists in the novelfeatures, arrangements, and combinations of parts to be hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference charactersdesignate the same parts in the two figures, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a feed device constructed in accordance with the invention,a part of the impression-cylinder being broken away in order to show oneof the grippers; and Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, (1 indicates the form or plate cylinder, to which inkis supplied in any suitable manner, as by the inking-rollersdiagrammatically illustrated. Mounted be low and rotating in contactwith the formcylinder a is the smaller transfer-cylinder a, and saidcylinder in turn rotates in contact with a larger impression-cylinder 1which is provided with a longitudinally-extending row of grippers g, bymeans of which the sheet to be printed is grasped and fed between thetransfer and impression cylinders. It is in the means for feeding thesheet to said grippers 9 that my invention especially consists. Insteadof providing a feed-plate which is inclined downwardly, so that thesheet to be printed slides by gravity between the cylinders a and a whenreleased, I employ a feed-plate p, which is mounted adjacent theimpression-cylinder a and has its inner edge approximately in contactand tangential thereto, said plate 19 being inclined downwardly from theupper portion of the impression-cylinder, as shown.

For the purpose of positioning the sheet upon the feed-plate p atransverse feed-gage f is provided. Said'feed-gage consists of a barwhich extends transversely to the feedplate at its outer lower end andis adjustable longitudinally thereto by means of slots in said plate andclamping-screwsf, cooperating with said slots in the manner indicated.

In order to adjust the sheet laterally of the feed-plate, a side gage his provided at one side of the feedplate. Said side gage is adjustabletransversely to the feed-plate and longitudinally to theimpression-cylinder by means of a transverse slot in the feed-plate anda clamping-screw, the connection between said side gage h and thefeed-plate being similar to that'between the latter and the transversebar f. However, the gage h instead cf being constituted by a bar, as issaid transversely-disposed gage, is formed of a small angle-piece, asshown.

A' feed-table T is located adjacent the outer end of the feed-plate p,and at the side of the impression-cylinder which is opposite thefeed-plate is located a receiving plate or table 1" to receive thesheets after their passage between the transfer and impressioncylinders.

In operation the .sheets to be printed are laid upon the table T at theingoing end of the press and are placed one by one upon the inclinedfeed-plate p. The sheet is positioned upon said feed-plate by means ofthe transversely-disposed gage-bar f, the upwardly-extending flange orlip f 2 of which retains said sheet against sliding downwardly on thefeed-plate and away from the impression-cylinder, which such sheet,owing to gravity, would otherwise do. The end gage f is adjustedlongitudinally to the feed-plate to such an extent that the uper edge ofthe sheet will slightly overlie t e upper edge of the feed-plate, andthereby come into contact with the grippers g of the impressioncylinderduring the rotation of the latter. Vvhen said grippers contact with theupper edge of the sheet, they grasp the same and carry it between saidimpression-cylinder and the transfer-cylinder, said cylinders thenfeeding the sheet between them while printing the same. In order toinsure the proper placing of the printed matter laterally of the sheet,the side gage h is moved transversely of the feed-plate to the requireddegree.

By the construction described the blank sheet remains absolutelystationary on the feed-plate until said sheet is en aged by thegrippers, and no shifting of the same by which a perfect register wouldbe prevented is possible. This feeding device can be applied to anycylinder-press which has a continuous motion and which might be used forprinting on sheet metal or other heavy stiff materials.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent In a feed device. for sheet-metal-printing machines,the combination, with the transfer and impression cylinders, of alongitudinally-disposed row of gri pers carried by the latter cylinder,a feed-p ate having one end in close proximity to the path of travel ofsaid grippers and inclined downwardly from said end, and asheet-retaining bar disposed transversely of said feed-plate at thelower end thereof, said bar being adjustable longitudinally of saidfeed-plate in order to make the sheet project at its upper edge slightlybeyond the upper edge of said feed-plate and into the path of saidgrippers, the sheet being fed upwardly along said feed-plate and betweensaid cylinders solely by the action of.

said grippers.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT J. FORD.

I/Vitnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, HENRY J. SUHRBIER.

